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Natchez is a city located in Adams County, Mississippi. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,464. It is the county seat of Adams County6. It was founded in 1716 and is the southern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
History
Natchez was founded by the French in 1716 as Fort Rosalie, an outpost in an area inhabited by the Natchez, a tribe of Native Americans. The inhabitants often found themselves in conflict with the Natchez and at one point wiped the entire Indian population. Subsequently, Fort Rosalie, which was later renamed after the tribe, spent periods under French, Spanish, and British colonial rule before being ceded to the United States in 1783 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.
In the late 18th century Natchez became the starting point of the Natchez Trace overland route, which ran from Natchez through what is now Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee and terminated at Nashville. Flatboatmen and keelboatmen (often called "Kaintucks" because they were usually from what is now Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana) who floated their produce downriver often sold their wares at Natchez, including their boats as lumber, then made the trek back north overland. This route was dangerous and infested by bandits, insects, and snakes; like the trip downriver, it usually took weeks to reach Nashville.
In 1798, the Mississippi Territory was created by the Adams administration and Natchez became its capital. After 19 years as territorial capital, on 10 December 1817, Natchez became the first capital of the state of Mississippi, a post it would relinquish a few years afterwards in favor of the present capital, Jackson, which is more centrally located within the state. Over the course of the 19th century, however, Natchez became a town of strategic economic importance due to its location on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. It developed into a bustling port for steamboats until the early 1900s, when railroad transport replaced steamboats. At Natchez, many local cotton plantation owners would have their cotton loaded onto steamboats at the landing known as "Natchez-Under-the-Hill" and transported downriver to New Orleans or sometimes upriver to Saint Louis, Missouri or Cincinnati, Ohio, where the cotton would be sold and transported to Northen markets for use as textiles.
The terrain around Natchez on the Mississippi side of the river is rather hilly. The city sits on a high bluff above the Mississippi river and in order to reach the riverbank one must travel down a steep road to the landing called Silver Street. This is in marked contrast to the flat lowland found across the river surrounding the city of Vidalia, Louisiana. Natchez is known for its many Antebellum mansions and estates, built by 19th century plantation owners who would often own farmland in Louisiana but locate their homes on the higher ground in Mississippi. The City of Natchez boasts that today it has more antebellum houses than anywhere in the United States, partly due to the fact that during the American Civil War Natchez was spared the destruction of many other Southern cities, such as Vicksburg. According to legend, the planter population, which has largely disappeared since the early 19th century, once made the city the wealthiest in the United States.
Geography
Natchez is located at 31°33'16" North, 91°23'15" West (31.554393, -91.387566)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.9 km² (13.9 mi²). 34.2 km² (13.2 mi²) of it is land and 1.7 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 4.62% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 18,464 people, 7,591 households, and 4,858 families residing in the city. The population density is 540.1/km² (1,398.3/mi²). There are 8,479 housing units at an average density of 248.0/km² (642.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 44.18% White, 54.49% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 7,591 households out of which 29.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% are married couples living together, 23.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% are non-families. 32.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 3.00.
In the city the population is spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 76.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $25,117, and the median income for a family is $29,723. Males have a median income of $31,323 versus $20,829 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,868. 28.6% of the population and 25.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 41.6% of those under the age of 18 and 23.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
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